Want to get the Morning Brief by email? Click here to sign up.

COVID-19 regulations for people traveling to Lebanon were altered again this weekend. Starting Dec. 25, all people over the age of 12 who are traveling to Lebanon will be required to submit a negative PCR test result issued no more than 48 hours before arrival, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation announced on Saturday. Beginning Jan. 10, anyone over the age of 12, with the exception of those working with the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), will also be required to undergo a PCR test on arrival in Beirut, which will be paid for in advance at a cost of $30, in addition to the cost of the flight, as was previously the case. During an interview with local publication Al Saham, Health Minister Firass Abiad said on Friday that the decision to place the nation under another lockdown will be based on the number of COVID-19 infections. Meanwhile, two European countries have tightened their requirements for passengers arriving from Lebanon. Unvaccinated passengers arriving at German airports from Lebanon are as of yesterday subject to quarantine, according to AFP, after Berlin added Lebanon and four other countries to its list of high-risk zones last week. France announced a similar move during the weekend, stating that beginning today, passengers from Lebanon will be required to submit a negative PCR test in order to enter France and unvaccinated travelers will have to quarantine for seven days.

President Michel Aoun signed a law Friday authorizing the World Bank-funded Emergency Social Safety Net program. Prime Minister Najib Mikati has also signed the bill, which will go into effect once it is published in the official gazette. The program entails providing cash assistance to vulnerable families to help them in meeting nutritional needs, as well as cash payments to students to assist them in meeting tuition fees. The law was passed by the Parliament in March. Aoun’s signature brings the government one step closer in its slow crawl toward disbursing the much-needed assistance. Mikati stated on Friday that 166,000 applications out of 239,000 registrations on the government's Impact platform had been declared qualified for social assistance programs designed to assist the country’s most vulnerable households. Mikati said that the high number of applications “indicates the high social pressures” households face as the country’s economic crisis deepens.

The Free Patriotic Movement vocalized its impatience with Judge Tarek Bitar’s probe into the Beirut port blast. The FPM denounced the delays in completing the blast probe, as well as the “discretion that mars the investigation” in a statement issued Saturday during a meeting of its political bureau. “The time has come for the investigative judge to issue indictments,” the party, which is led by President Aoun’s son-in-law, said. The FPM also reaffirmed its requests for Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s cabinet to resume its meetings. Mikati’s government, which was formed on Sept. 10, has not convened since Oct. 12 due to disagreement among its members over Bitar’s leadership of the investigation. Hezbollah — whose alliance with the FPM has grown increasingly fractious in recent times — and the Amal Movement contend that Bitar has “politicized” the investigation and demanded that he be removed from the probe.

The UN secretary-general arrived in Lebanon yesterday and hours later had a “successful meeting” with President Michel Aoun. Following the meeting, Antonio Guterres stated that the UN stands in solidarity with the Lebanese people and highlighted the significance of parliamentary elections scheduled for next year. Guterres’ visit will run through Wednesday. Today he is scheduled to meet privately with religious leaders, before heading to the Beirut port to pay tribute to the victims of the Aug. 4, 2020 explosion that took place there. He will then go to Ain al-Tineh to meet with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri; afterwards, he will lunch with Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Grand Serail. In a video message released Friday ahead of his journey to Lebanon Guterres said his meetings with various Lebanese leaders and officials would be aimed at discussing how the UN can effectively assist the nation in resolving its multidimensional challenges and advance peace, stability, justice, development, and human rights. On Thursday, the UN chief took a harsher tone when speaking with reporters at the organization’s headquarters in New York, with AFP reporting him as saying, “The divisions among political leaders in Lebanon have paralyzed the institutions,” to the extent that this makes it impossible “to reach agreement with IMF … to launch effective economic programs, and to create the conditions for the country to initiate the recovery.”